By June Valliere
june.valliere@waylandpost.org
Boston United Volleyball Club will be opening a new location at Wayland Town Center in the former BSC space this fall. United Volleyball has four other locations: Cambridge School of Weston Fitness Center, Mt. Ida College, Regis College and the YMCA on Wells Ave. in Newton. They have leased the entire BSC space of 15,000 square feet. There will be three volleyball courts, four pickleball courts and three high technology training pods.
According to owner Scott Grandpre, the exact date is dependent on when the contractors fully convert the space.
Although the program focuses on youth from kindergarten through high school, there will be a few adult programs later at night and on weekends. The Wayland Club will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Grandpre expects to see pickleball activity during the day when the children are in school.
Volleyball is the number one sport for girls and the fastest growing sport for boys, said Grandpre. The growing popularity is a combination of exposure from watching the summer Olympics, the camaraderie, and growing concerns about traumatic brain and spinal injury from high impact sports, according to him. He added that volleyball provides a supportive community and depending on the Club’s location, volleyball can also be a racially diverse sport.
The Club has separate boys’ and girls’ programs which are divided by age and skill: the youth program, girls club, boys club and academy. They also offer needs-based scholarships totaling $100,000 each year.
The Youth Volleyball programs consist of weekly clinics that introduce children from kindergarten through ninth grade to volleyball and teaches them the fundamentals to play at the next level. Grandpre said that it is fun to see the enthusiasm of the young first-time players when they are introduced to the sport. He said that the head coach at Regis College is particularly skilled at teaching this age group.
The Girls & Boys Club Programs cater to athletes aged U10–U18 and is structured to provide competitive opportunities across four tiers for the girls: National, Northeast, and Regional and Academy and two tiers for the boys, regional & national.
The Academy Program is open to U14-U18 girl players. Academy teams practice 1x/week with the option to sign up for an additional skills practice each week. All the Academy teams compete in the Champions League against other club teams in the NEAAU region. Half of the players in the Boston United Club are in high school. Eleven club athletes will be traveling to the National Championships in Florida in a few weeks. They also have summer camps and expect to have one in Wayland next summer.
According to Grandpre, the club currently has 1,200 members across all locations. Athletes and their families will be travelling from the surrounding towns such as Westward, Needham, Wellesley, Weston, Newton and NH. He said that the members will have one practice a week at the Wayland location and estimated that 600 to 800 athletes and their families will visit the Wayland location on a weekly basis. Wayland High School’s boys’ Volleyball coach Phil George who was voted coach of the year last year is on their staff. Last year, the Wayland boys’ volleyball team made it to the state playoffs and are expected to do so this year.
Grandpre, a Westwood resident, played division one Volleyball at Sacred Heart University in Rhode Island. He was the team captain for two years and held the single-season records in service aces and digs. Before starting the Boston Volleyball Club, he Founded RIPP Volleyball Club, a traveling volleyball club based in Fairfield, Conn., was Assistant Coach at the University of Rhode Island 2010-2011 and was the assistant coach of the women’s assistant volleyball coach at Sacred Heart University, Director of New England AAU Volleyball, Director of Boston UVC, and Head Volleyball Coach at Simmons University. His interest in Volleyball developed while playing for an inspirational high school coach at East Greenwich High School in Rhode Island.
Grandpre decided to open the club up to pickleball during the day after the leasing agent told him that residents had contacted him about renting the space to an organization that would provide pickle ball courts. He might call it Wayland Pickle and they will be offering both open play and memberships. Members will get discounted playing time and court time preferences.
